At the moment we will not run out of coal anytime soon, or the large deposits of tar sands and oil shale that have yet to be tapped, but that doesn’t mean that continuing down our current energy path is ok. If we were to proceed down this path we would need to continue drilling in vulnerable ecosystems and national parks to sustain our energy consumption and political conflicts over oil would continue for years. Therefore I say it’s high time we stop letting energy pollute our environment and society, when there are other options.
If we were to continue down the same energy path the consumption of fossil fuel energy will take a gigantic leap and the CO2 produced from it will also increase drastically. As of 2002 energy consumption produced 2.6 billion tons of CO2 by 2030 it would rise to 4.2 billion tons.
I hope that all of you enjoy my blog! All comments and any input are welcomed!
posted by Samantha @ 11:28 PM
5 Comments:
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I agree fully. With thousands of vehicles destroyed by Katrina, perhaps there's an opportunity to step up toward some quick, effective action.
It's not without precedent: The need for a go anywhere reconnaissance vehicle was laid down in specifications by the Quartermaster Corps, on July 7, 1940. The vehicle needed to be small enough to be transported easily and air dropped if necessary, had to traverse rough terrain and not place an unreasonable burden on scarce fuel supplies. The invitation to submit bids was sent to 135 U.S. automobile manufacturers to produce 70 vehicles. The small Bantam company managed to meet the deadline delivering the pilot model September 23, 1940. (THREE MONTHS!) Although it was 730 lbs. overweight it was judged good. Willys-Overland submitted crude sketches of their vehicle and underbid Bantam, although they could not meet the 75 day delivery period. Bantam received an order to produce 70 Model 60 or MKII. Willys Overland submitted two units of its pilot model, the Quad, on November 11th. This had many of the features from the Bantam as did another prototype from Ford, who delivered two of its Pigmy on November 23rd. Both Willys-Overland and Ford were given free access to Bantam's prototype and blueprints, which goes a long way to explain the similarities AND THE FACT THAT GIVEN SUFFICIENT INCENTIVE, COMPETITORS CAN COOPERATE. With all three prototypes satisfactory, the Army decided to order 1500 of each for field evaluation, with deliveries to begin in early 1941. IN LESS THAN A YEAR 4500 VEHICLES WERE IN TEST, and the rest is history.
Is it unreasonable to propose a cooperative competition to deliver a modern hybrid vehicle that will provide relief to disaster victims, to the environment, to the fuel supply and to our economy?
I'm glad to see a blog on energy conservation. It's clearly a subject that has to be dealt with, especially considering the sky rocketing prices of gas and oil. In addition, we need to find alternates that are better for the environment and that we don't have to exploit untouched land to get more of.
I also believe that coal is not the correct answer. As you stated, that is also a somewhat limited resource. I'm interested to see what other ideas that you have done research on.
Also, are you going to get in depth at all with cars and other vehicles? The price of gas is really starting to frustrate me and it's something that is really putting a hole in the ozone.
I worked with a guy from Australia and he said the hole in the ozone is directly over top of his country and the sun is apparently incredibly hot because of it.
I think it is very important to sustain a relationship that would balance our economy, natural resources, and way of life. As a society we have become dependent upon the consumption of natural resources – electricity, cars, cell phones. Gosh! Can we ever live without electricity? I remember how hard it was during the black out in New York a couple of years back. I then realized that for a generation to evolve with multiple dependencies does not really take that long. In fact, I even read somewhere that human beings are becoming less and less adaptable and in the future even adapting to different climatic conditions would mean going to a surgeon / genealogist and getting your genes acclimated. Anyways, I do know there are still people living in China who basically call a cave their home and they are happy. Whether, it is a compulsion for them or a matter of choice, they sure are living in an eco-friendly way that would conserve natural resources.
You bring up a very interesting topic that I dont think our generation pays enough attention to. This is our world, and if we dont take care of it, its our future that will be effected.
My brother told me about hydrogen cars, and I was both intrigued and confused. If they run on hydrogen, and produce water as their exhaust, are they using oxygen as well? I dont know if that is a dumb question, but if they are using oxygen, then is this really a good answer to the fuel question, or does it only start more questions.
Im interested to know what changes people can make on a day-to-day basis to help reduce pollution besides the obvious ways of driving less, carpooling etc.
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